ANBU's life
by RoxyMoon
Summary: KakashixOC; her whole life is based on the ANBU organization. She has never really known anything else but a life as a black ops...until she meets ex-ANBU Kakashi.
1. Non-ANBU mission

**_Hi everyone! So this is a second story I'm starting._**

**_I'll be honest, my favorite all time character is Kakashi. Except, as much as I can write stories with other characters easily, as much as I'm nervous to write anything Kakashi-related. Who knows...  
_****_So basically this is an attempt at creating something with an OC called Riko. I'm not sure yet where this is gonna go but I got a good feeling :)_**

**_Please note that I will not use any honorable titles except "sensei" and possibly "sama". I just feel like I'll easily screw up on that level. I will also name the characters by first name followed by the family name and not the opposite way. I'm just too lazy to do the opposite way. _**

**_Please review and comment about anything! Please tell me of any incoherence or anything I can correct. I will gladly take anything!_**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Naruto obviously. If it was, Kakashi would be the main character...hehehe..._**

* * *

"You have required my assistance, Hokage?"

The girl, wearing a strange dragon shaped mask with slashes of purple lines on it, was kneeling in front of the desk. In the chair behind was sitting a lady with blond hair, wearing a green coat which had the word "gambler" written on the back

"Yes, I have a mission to give you, now get up."

At her words, the young girl got up. The Hokage looked at her closely, judging this new recruit that Danzō had sent her on her request. Tsunade had never given her any mission specifically herself, but this girl had quite a good reputation. She was wearing two swords on her back, had the normal ANBU costume and the usual tattoo on her left arm.

"You're mask will be unnecessary for this mission", moved on the Hokage, "you will be accompanying a squad on a mission. The mission itself will be explained by the Fuderal Lord himself. You on your side will have to guarantee this mission's success. Be careful though, the town beside the castle has been making a big fuss recently. For some unexplained reason, they started to hold a grudge against the Lord. This is why you will be there. To protect him from any attack, and discover the reason why the villagers are making such an uproar. Understood?"

"Yes, Lady Tsunade," answered right away the girl.

"Now take off your mask."

The girl hesitated at this order, but after just a few seconds, she pulled off her mask with her right hand. Tsunade inspected the girl once more. She had black short hair, with deep purple eyes which somehow seemed empty. The girl's face had no emotion, it was completely neutral.

"Now, your name will be your real name: Riko. Go to your house and get change. Come back in about an hour to meet the squad."

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

The girl made a simple hand sign and disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the Hokage lost in her thoughts.

* * *

Riko reappeared in the streets of Konoha, in front of an apartment building. When Riko got in the apartment, she saw at the front desk a man. During the week, he just lazily sat there, 'controlling' the people coming in and out of the building. Problem is that he doesn't take his job seriously. If a visitor came in the building, they would probably not guess that he's supposed to be the security of the building.

The man in question lifted up his head from a book he was reading to see that it was only the young girl coming in. He did not bother to greet her or even smile at her, he just kept reading his mysterious book.

After climbing three flights of stairs, Riko arrived on the third floor. She walked directly to a door at the end of the hall way, which had 3 golden number painted on: "359". She stretched her hand to her back pouch, grabbed her keys, and finally entered her place.

Inside was a very comfortable little apartment. It had a living room, connected to a small kitchen. On the left there were two doors: one for the bathroom and the other one was her bedroom, which she was heading for. As she got in the room, she opened her closet, looking at the large variety of clothing that was offered to her. One by one, she studied them, knowing each's advantages and disadvantages. She finally rooted for a black long paints and a pretty purple long loosed sleeved shirt, which had 2 cuts on each shoulder, showing her ANBU tattoo on her arm. She putted on her leaf headband on her forehead, her back pouch, and a pocket attached to her right leg, containing shurikens.

As Riko walk outside of her door, she grabbed a bag already prepared that was full of things to survive on a mission, in addition to her double swords. She locked the door, got outside and started to head for the Hokage's office, this time on foot. Walking the whole distance took about an hour, just enough time to be back at Hokage's at the time requested by lady Tsunade. At her office's door, she lightly knocked on the door, and waited for permission to enter. But no answer came out. Confused, Riko knocked again, but still no answer came. As she was waiting, not knowing what to do, she looked up at a clock on the wall near where she was standing to make sure that she wasn't late. That's when a voice came from the hall way on her right.

"You are here to see Lady Tsunade?"

The girl turned her head to see the Hokage's assistant, Shizune, holding a pile of books and folders in her arms, and followed by a small cute little pig, wearing a necklace and a red shirt.

"Yes, Lord Hokage asked me to come and see her."

"Hmmm... Can you hold this please?"

The black hair girl took the pile in her arms, which surprisingly was pretty heavy, but she did not complain. Shizune knocked on the door firmly.

"Lady Tsunade, you have someone here for you."

Still no answer came from inside the office, which made the assistant very worried. She opened the door and walked inside to finally find the Hokage sleeping faced down on her desk.

"Lady Tsunade! WAKE UP!"

The woman lifted up her head, still half asleep and looked around. She had cards sticking to her face, which proved that she fell asleep on them.

"Huh? What is going on?"

"You fell asleep! That's what's going on!" yelled her assistant.

"Oh, I'm sorry Shizune, I barely slept last night."

Shizune let out a sigh before she spoke again. "Anyway, you have company."

She turned and saw that Riko was still holding the pile of documents. "Oh! Please just put those on the table!"

As the young girl got rid of the pile, Tsunade finally recognized who she was.

"Oh Riko! I barely recognized you with this new outfit! Is it already time?"

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

"Oh." She cleared her throat. "The others should be here in a moment."

As she finished her sentence, they all could hear a loud voice booming down the hall way.

"Hey Shikamaru! Can you believe it?! I finally got a mission, and the best thing about it is that its not a D rank one!"

A yellow flashy hair boy and a black hair boy got in the room. Judging by their faces, Riko could guess that the voice came from the yellow hair boy with a wide goofy smile.

"Riko, this will be two of your comrades for this mission. Shikamaru Nara..." She pointed at the black hair boy, "And Naruto Uzumaki..." now pointing the yellow hair boy.

"Riko? Hmmm... I never saw you before," said in a calm voice Shikamaru.

"Hey! That's right! And you're about our age too!" said Naruto.

"Actually, I'm about 6 years older than both of you which means that we were in different grades," simply answered the girl in a monotone voice. She was at the same time wondering how he couldn't see the obvious age difference.

Naruto was about to ask something else but a knock on the door interrupted him. They all turned around to see a silver haired man at the door.

"Ah! And this is your third teammate Riko. Kakashi Hatake... he will be the leader of your team."

Riko looked at the man carefully. She knew perfectly who he was: an ex-ANBU member. She heard all about him and his famous Sharingan now hidden under his crooked headband.

"Kakashi, this is Riko," finished presenting the Hokage.

"Yo," the man answered with a hand up.

"Okay now that you are all here, I can explain the little bit that I actually know."

Everyone got closer to Tsunade's desk, at the exception of Shizune and TonTon who went to stand behind the Hokage.

"Now, you will form a four man squad. Your mission will be explained more deeply by the Federal Lord, but I can tell you this: be careful of the neighbour town. Everyone seems to think that they will make a move soon."

"A move?! What do you mean Granny Tsunade?" asked Naruto

"The villagers have been mad at the Lord, that's all I know. You must accomplish the Lord's desire, and assure his safety. Naruto aside, Shikamaru's great talent to analyze various situations, Kakashi's Sharingan and Riko's great training should be useful if there is to be an attack. If there is one, stop it at all cost unless your situation has changed. I'm counting on your jugement."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait! Are you saying that I have no talent?!" interrupted once more Naruto.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. The only reason I've put you in this team, is that that I'm tired of you breaking my ears with the fact that you want something else then a D rank mission," answered severely Tsuande.

"AAAAAAAW!"

_Great, I'm stuck with an idiot on my team..._ thought Riko

"I must have a talent! Come on!"

"How about being a loud mouth and annoy people? That sounds like something you do," said Shikamaru while covering the ear that was on Naruto's side.

"Hey don't say that! You're lazy!" shouted Naruto.

"At least I have a brain" simply answered the black hair boy while pointing his head.

_...and a lazy guy..._"added the girl in her thoughts.

Naruto kept complaining until Kakashi interrupted him.

"That's enough Naruto..."

"But Kakashi-sensei..."

"No."

Naruto let out a big sigh and walked toward the door.

"Good luck on your mission," added the Hokage before everyone left.

* * *

**_This is the first part! Let me know what you think!_**

**_I'll try to create a second part as soon as I can!_**


	2. What is wrong with you?

_**Hi everyone who decided to read past chapter 1. I guess the first thing I'd like to say is thank you for reading this far. It will get better I promise!**_

_**On the other hand, if you do have any opinion and/or ideas to share, feel free to send them to me via reviews or PM. I will always welcome any kind of ideas!**_

_**Kakashi is much more present in this chapter. I, also, tried to keep everyone in character as much I could!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Trust me, if I did, it wouldn't be a show for everyone if you get what I mean ;)  
**_

_**Onward!**_

Already Riko could see the sun setting in the distance. They had been gone for only roughly 5 hours and they had to stop for the night. Kakashi came at the same conclusion. Quickly he stopped and declared in a bored tone:

"Time to stop for the day. We're setting up camp near the river over there." He started heading toward the water flow which he had mentioned.

"Ah man! Can't we keep going for the night? I'm still full of energy!" whined the blonde hair boy.

"Well, I'm tired Naruto. So I'm going to follow what Kakashi-sensei says," Shikamaru told him while stifling a yawn. He immediately started to follow the silver hair man to set up camp.

"Humph. I say we vote! Hey Riko! What do you say? You're not tired right?" asked Naruto while turning toward the fourth person convinced that he'd get some support from her.

"Kakashi is our team leader. He calls the shots." With nothing more to say, Riko went to help the other men.

With a frown and basically no other options, the blonde boy followed slowly behind. Quickly, they emptied their bags and started setting things up, starting with the tents, until:

"Uh oh..."

"What now Naruto?" asked Shikamaru.

"Well..." The boy scratched the back of his head.

"Spit it out Naruto," ordered Kakashi.

"I...didn't think about bringing my tent..." slowly answered Naruto.

_He's kidding, right?_ Riko thought to herself while arching up and eyebrow.

"You packed all these useless things," Kakashi waved towards the other things, such as instant ramen, that Naruto had emptied on the group "but not something essential like a tent?"

"They're not useless!" he simply answered.

"Fine, you're sharing tents with Shikamaru _IF_ he's willing to do so. If not, you sleep outside. In the cold." Without adding anything more, the sensei turned toward his tent and continued putting it up.

While Naruto was busy making puppy eyes and nearly impossible promises to Shikamaru behind him, Kakashi looked in the direction of Riko. She was incredibly silent, not even participating in any group conversations. In fact, she hadn't spoken a word for the whole trip, almost as if she had been silently judging them. But Kakashi knew better. That's how ANBU members were trained: silent and unemotional. He suddenly felt bad for her. Why would suck a beautiful girl, especially at her age, should sacrifice living a beautiful life just to be turned into an emotionless weapon by the ANBU? He closed his eyes for a moment as he started to analyze how he felt. Why was he suddenly feeling frustrated for her? If that's what she wanted, then he had no business trying to change her mind. But still... Something, he didn't know what, wanted to make her see what she was missing. Why? That was still a mystery to him.

Riko, whom finished her tent rather quickly turned toward the group to notice that Shikamaru had finally accepted to share his tent with Naruto under the condition that he would have to set up the tent for them. The boy finally started to do so while mumbling something under his breath that sounded oddly familiar to "lazy ass". With nothing else to do, the girl decided to go see the leader to see what else he wanted her to do.

Arriving in front of him, she realized that his eyes were closed, as if he was thinking really hard about something. Standing there, not sure what to do, she finally cleared her throat to catch his attention. That made him jump. Somehow, he had not felt her presence.

"Yeah?"

"I wanted to know if there was anything else you wanted me to do," she quickly stated.

"Well for starters, you can start by treating me as your equal. I'm honestly not going to bite you or reprimand you like an ANBU captain." Staring her in the eyes, he saw a flicker of the first emotion he had seen since the beginning of the trip: confusion.

"WOAH, you're an ANBU ninja?" yelled Naruto from behind him while dropping everything, thus making the tent crumble back down to the ground again.

Staring down at their tent and realizing that it will never be up properly without his intervention, Shikamaru scratched the back of his head with one hand and said on an annoyed tone: "what a drag..."

When both boys minded their own business again, Riko looked back down at Kakashi that was still on his knees in front of his tent on the ground and asked: "How?"

"Riko Ryuu. You entered the ANBU team at the age of 17. I heard a lot about you and your famous double swords. Beside, even if I hadn't ever heard about you, your behavior gave you away. How long has it been since you've acted normally? Like talk and laugh with others around you."

Riko was stupefied. He had said all that without even looking at her, all while putting up his tent again. She decided not to answer. She simply kneed down and put up her side of the tent to help him. During the process she had started to think things like: _Who does he think he is to ask personal questions like that? _and _Like he'd really care what my life is like..._

When they were done, Kakashi told her: "Thanks for the help."

"It was no problem," she said all while bowing down.

"I'm serious Riko. Treat my like your equal, if not I will get mad for real." He rubbed his neck and looked at the boys behind him. Shikamaru was trying to patiently explain to Naruto how to set up their tent. But at the end, all his effort was greeted by a blank stare which was slowly starting to tick off the black hair boy.

With a sigh, Kakashi told them: "How about you both go get wood for a fire? Meanwhile, Riko and I will set up your tent." He then stared at Naruto specifically while asking, "do you think you can manage that?"

The boy's face lit up and he shouted: "Believe it!" He then turned to Shikamaru and declared: "I bet I can get more wood then you!"

As he ran out into the forest, Shikamaru shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking in the same direction while letting out another sigh. Once they were out of sight, Riko asked Kakashi: "Are they your regular students?"

"Yes and no," started to answer Kakashi while walking toward the tent to put it up. She quickly followed his movement and went around the other side to help him again. "Naruto is, or at least was, my student three years ago. A lot of things happened and he became Jiraya's apprentice. I guess now you could say he's back to being kind of my student. Shikamaru is one of my friend's student. He's a chuunin and has a great mind."

Looking at their finished work, he seemed satisfy. He then turned around to go grab rocks and set them in a circle for the fire.

"If I could guess, I'd say that Lady Tsunade was worried that he might bring us down during the mission so she asked to have an ANBU assigned to our group just in case." Done with his work, he brushed of the dirt off his hands. "That's where you come in," he finally added while smiling at her.

"Well, um, good deduction," she said, not too sure what to say. Socializing wasn't really listed in her best skilled.

For some reason, Kakashi started laughing lightly at her answer which strangely made a hint of pink appear on her cheeks. After sitting down on a large smooth rock, he patted down beside him so she could sit. Looking at her closely, he started thinking about just how cute she actually looked.

"What?" she asked when she noticed him staring at her.

The question made him snap back to reality. What was happening to him? But before he could answer her, Naruto came back with a huge pile of wood. Behind him, Shikamaru was walking empty handed.

"Shikamaru saw how awesome I am and gave up," declared Naruto loudly while laughing.

"Good grace, its a good thing that we don't need to be discrete tonight cause I swear we'd already be dead," said Kakashi rolling his eye. "Just set it in the circle I made and start a fire."

"Aw, why am I doing all the work?" whined Naruto. Dropping down the wood, he noticed how the two of them were sitting kinda close. "Wait... Are you trying to flirt with her? Trust me Kakashi-sensei, the old pervy's tricks don't work! He tried to prove it many times, but it never worked!" He then ran in front of Riko and told her, "beside Riko, you shouldn't get close to him! Kakashi-sensei is just a pervert too! You should see the book he reads all the time!"

At that point, Kakashi was holding a hand on his face while Riko was simply giving Naruto a blank stare. All she could think of was: _Did he just called the honorable Copy Cat ninja a __pervert__?_

"Oh come on! That was funny! You we're suppose to laugh," started saying Naruto in reaction to her lack of emotions.

"Maybe because none of us found you funny?" cut in Suikamaru.

"Come on! She's like an emotionless ghost! She's worst than Sai! It's just really creepy how-"

"Beside, can you stop snooping around in other people's affair and start the damn fire so we can eat and go sleep?" interrupted Shikamaru.

_Thank you Shikamaru, _silently thought Kakashi.

Thus, with this strange group, Riko realized that this mission would be a really weird one.

* * *

_**This is all everyone! I tried to update this chapter as fast as I could to bring everyone more into context.**_

_**Please please share the love by writing a review! It will motivate me to create more chapters!**_

_**Once again, if you find any incoherence, feel free to let me know so I can correct it ASAP!**_


	3. Finally arrived!

**Trying to bring in more the intrigue in this chapter. **

**Let me know if you have any ideas or opinion or request! :)**

* * *

Tsunade was waiting impatiently for Shizune to come back. Sitting behind her desk, she was facing the windows, staring up at the beautiful clear sky, thoughtful. Something was bothering her and she couldn't quite figure out what it was.

Finally, the door opened quickly behind her and she heard Shizune running in followed by Tonton.

"H-here is the file you have requested, Lady Tsunade," said Shizune out of breath as she drop the object on the desk.

Tsunade turned around and stared at the file then at her assistant.

"Will you please shut the door?"

Shizune turned around to realize that the door was still opened. She ran to it and was about to close it but then started at Tsunade.

"Yes, you may stay if you wish to," the blonde woman answered her silent question.

She closed the door then walked back to the desk as she asked curiously:

"So why did you want this file suddenly? From what I could understand, no one touched that report in years."

"Because I'm curious about that girl…"

"Girl? I'm sorry, Lady Tsunade, but I'm afraid you lost me," said uncomfortably the younger black hair woman.

"Riko Ryuu. Her eyes were so… empty. As if she hasn't felt any kind of emotion for so long. Like she forgot what it is to feel something. Beside, don't you think she's young to be in the ANBU?"

"While that may be true, it is the ANBU organisation after all…"

Tsunade sighed at her answer. "You're right, but that's not what I'm wondering about. Ryuu… I'm sure I've heard of that clan before. This is why I wanted this," she added, tapping the file in front of her.

Without adding anything more, she opened the file and started to read. This file was one of the few reports the Fourth Hokage had done before he past away. Shizune stared at her former teacher whose eyes were scrolling the writing before her. As the minutes passed, her eyes grew bigger and bigger. Finally, she closed the file. After doing so, she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose between her eyes.

"I can't believe there are people like that…" she mumbled.

"Riko Ryuu?"

"No, not her. That report consisted about an incident that happened 16 years ago within the Ryuu clan," explained the Hokage.

"A clan? I didn't know that there's a Ryuu clan!"

"That's because its members have dissolved…"

* * *

Finally, the group entered the Tea country. They had just a little longer to go then they would arrive at their destination. Kakashi called a last break before they arrived which, of course, caused Naruto to complain again.

Sitting down, the group started to eat their snacks in silent. Surprisingly, Shikamaru eventually broke the silence.

"Something is bothering me…" he started slowly.

They all stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

"This town we're heading to… I'm no expert in geography, but I don't think there are any neighbour towns close to it."

"I think you might be right," agreed Kakashi while Riko nodded her head, agreeing. "So what are you heading at?"

"Didn't Lady Tsunade say to be careful of any kind of possible uproar from a neighbour town?" Shikamaru answered.

"I don't get it," said Naruto crossing his arms.

"He's saying that the information given to our Hokage might have been falsified," Riko answered.

Naruto looked at her surprise. Since when did the silent girl talk?

"But the information might have just been unclear. After all, we are officially getting our mission's description from the feudal lord himself," concluded Kakashi.

"Well from what I understand, Granny Tsunade told us to use our judgement. I think that's what matters," said Naruto nodding to himself. "So why don't we hurry and go see what's up with the messed up feudal lord?"

"Sure, let's go. I think we're all done anyways," said Kakashi when getting up. When everyone was up and leaving, he took the time to ruffle Naruto's hair and said, "do us all a favor and refrain yourself for saying that in front of the Lord himself. I'd love it if we could keep our heads."

With a "humph", Naruto started running behind the other two that had already left, joined by Kakashi. Another few minutes passed when Naruto asked:

"Hey Kakashi-sensei, what did you tell the weirdo?"

"Weirdo?" answered the man confused.

"You know, Riko."

"Please don't call her that. She doesn't deserve that kind of nickname."

"Well she is weird. Yesterday she wouldn't say a word or even react to any of my jokes and now she actually talks although she still has that creepy emotionless look."

Kakashi sighed. "Why don't you see it as progress? Or are you actually ok with seeing her lonely like that?"

Naruto stared at Kakashi with his big blue eyes. Somehow, what he said made him want to know more about the girl and why she acted like this.

* * *

Walking through the town was horrible. On the way to the lord's mansion, the amount of people, including kids, living in the streets was huge. Even the houses were in poor shape.

"Are we at the right place?" asked Naruto quietly to the group.

"Unfortunately," answered Riko.

Naruto looked at her. She was staring at all of this without showing any hint of disgust or pity but she was looking carefully as if looking for something specific. Finally, curiosity got the best of him and he asked her:

"What are you looking for?"

She looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"You're obviously looking for something or you'd just stare ahead or at the sky like you've been doing for the whole trip."

She slowed down to walk beside him. "I'm just noting how there isn't a single building that look well maintained in this area, except for the mansion that we're heading to, which I'm guessing is the feudal lord's place, and that one over there," she said quietly while pointing at the one building that did look almost brand new.

He stared blankly at the building with everyone else in the group. She was right, aside from the mansion, there was this one building that looked like there was a lot of money invested to keep it looking sharp and inviting. Kakashi, who had already noticed, knew what it was: a house of pleasure. What was a place like this doing with a building like that?

"Hey, I wonder what it is!" declared Naruto.

The woman, who also knew what the building was, opened her mouth to answer but was swiftly cut off by the team's leader who knew that it wouldn't be wise to let this conversation continue.

"We've arrived. Everyone, look sharp."

Everyone straighten up nervously. As they were about to walk in the mansion, Kakashi turned around one last time to check his surrounding. With the mansion being set on a higher ground, he could almost see the whole village from where he was standing. That is when he realized that only one sector of the village was in a poor state: the part that they walked through. Confused, he turned, promising to himself that he would look into it.

Once inside, one of the servant announced their arrival to the feudal lord. After waiting for his permission, they all walked into a big room where a man and probably his wife were sitting at the other side of the room.

"Welcome! Thank you for coming at my request on such a short notice," the man welcomed everyone on a cheering tone as the four ninjas bowed down in front of him. "Oh please, sit up. No need to be so formal with me!"

At his order, everyone sat back up without saying a word.

"Now, I imagine that you would probably like to know your mission?" he asked and the group nodded their heads. "Good! I have requested your presence as I seem to have an issue with a sector of my village. Word has come to us that there is a rebellion that is currently being prepared to overthrow and perhaps kill me. I simply ask of you to stop them at all cost."

"Do we know their motives?" asked Kakashi once the man was done.

The man seemed to hesitate before finally answering in a monotone voice, "no, we unfortunately do not."

"And just to be sure, would the rebellion be coming from the south-east sector of this village," the silver hair man asked again, now thinking of the impoverished that they walked through.

"Yes, we have reason to believe that that is the case. However, there are no certain proof of that yet. You will unfortunately have to investigate a little bit," explained the feudal lord. Seeing as there were no more questions, he added in a more cheerful tone, "while you are staying in my village, please feel free to stay in the rooms I have especially prepared just for the four of you! My servants will show you the way."

The four members stood up and bowed one more time thankful for their host's hospitality. They then turned around to see the servants, that the lord had mention, and followed them down various hallways. Finally, they arrived to their respective rooms. Walking in, they noticed that their room were all interconnected with sliding doors.

"Awesome! I'll be able to sneak in your rooms during the night and pull some pranks!" said Naruto who's room was set between Shikamaru's and Kakashi's.

"Please don't. That would be bothersome," answered Shikamaru unimpressed from his room.

Kakashi slid open the door opposite to the one linking to Shikamaru's room to find that it led to Riko's room. The girl, who was setting her things down, looked up at the man curiously.

"Well, at least, we will all be closed to each other if something ever happens," she said on a logical tone to him.

"Uh, yes. That's right!" he quickly answered before finally closing the door. He, somehow, didn't expect to have his room linked to the Riko's. Some thoughts about what he could do with this opportunity went through his head at that moment but he quickly shook his head to push them out. He barely met this girl. What was he thinking?

Although she had said exactly what she was thinking, she felt a strange feeling in her stomach. Knowing that her room was right beside the Copy cat ninja's should have put her at ease, but it made her feel nervous at the same time. She didn't understand. In fact, when it came to her feeling, she rarely understood how she felt...

* * *

**Done for now! I know it was a bit boring, but I'll start making it more interesting next chapter!**

**Please review still. Share the love!**

**ALSO - ****Please check out the poll on my profile page ! I**f you like to read Kakashi one shots, I was thinking of maybe creating more of them with another OC I like a lot called Reena Tsuki. If you're interested in reading some, I have currently one up. 


	4. May the interrogation begin

**Hi everyone, I'm sorry for how long it took me to write this part. I was stuck between a slight writer's block (I know where the story's going, I'm just not sure of how to get there) and session projects. I'm incredibly stressed out right now and I'm about to start final exams... but after that it will be summer and I'll be able to write more!**

**Anywho, right now I got an idea in my head so the next part shouldn't take as long. If it does well... I probably got swamped by exams. University level is harsh after all!**

_**Disclaimer: **_**Still do not own Naruto nor Kakashi and other characters. Damn.**

* * *

In a private kitchen prepared especially for the visitors, the group was reuniting in the morning for breakfast. When Riko had walked in, she found Shikamaru eating in silence at the big table and Kakashi just standing near the window, looking outside. Seemed like he had already eaten. Thus, no chance that she would see what's under his mask this morning; new obsession she had started since… well… this morning it seemed.

As she sat down with her breakfast, the blonde boy walked in still half asleep and in his pyjamas. Kakashi turned to look at him. When he noticed what he was wearing, he let out a sigh as he decided that it wasn't worth the effort to say anything. The blonde boy simply continued to prepare himself a breakfast, aka bowl of cereals, without noticing anything. Finally, he sat down facing the girl. After munching on his cereals for a bit, he seemed awake enough to start thinking. The girl watched how suddenly a spark of life shined through his blue eyes as he started staring at her. Several minutes past when finally Riko started feeling annoyed by his constant staring.

"Why are you staring at me?" she asked.

Naruto simply continued munching his cereals. Seemed like his brain wasn't working at a normal speed yet. Riko decided to ignore him and his lack of response. She concentrated on finishing her breakfast. As she swallowed the last bite and got up, the boy asked:

"Why are you in the ANBU?"

"What?"

"Why did you join the ANBU?" the boy patiently asked again while wondering how stupid she was for not understanding his question the first time around.

"What's wrong with being in it?" she dodged his question.

"Well... if I was your age, I'd be doing fun stuff. Like regular B-rank missions and eating ramen when coming back from them," he stated as a matter-of-fact.

Kakashi, from where he was standing, started staring at the two, curious to see how the girl would react to Naruto's interrogation.

"Well guess I'm not you, now am I?"

"Don't you want to be something cool later?" the simple boy continued.

"Something cool? Just get to the point Naruto," Riko said as she started losing patience.

Surprised by her newfound attitude, Naruto did what she asked. He went straight to the point: "Well I'm asking why not do something better than slave-working away for the ANBU organisation. Don't you have a goal? Don't you want to impress your parents?"

The silver hair man saw how Riko's expression started twisting in something that seemed like pain. However, the change was very subtle which made the sensei believe that Naruto was oblivious to it. As he started wondering if maybe he should intervene, the blonde kid added:

"Like I'm going to be Hokage one day. Believe it!"

Shikamaru, who had been quiet up to now, started chuckling. Curious, the girl looked at him.

"Well, looks like Naruto is finally awake," the boy finally said.

"What do you mean finally?!" the blonde boy asked angrily.

But the conversation ended there with a servant walking in. As he was about to say something, he got distracted with Naruto's morning fashion. It's only when Kakashi spoke that he snapped out of his trance.

"Yes?" the sensei asked patiently.

"Oh! Uh… Lord Takara would like to meet you in the main room as soon as possible."

"Good. We will meet him in…" Kakashi stared at Naruto who was still in his pyjamas, "well, I guess it is safe to say in 30 minutes?"

The servant bowed and walked out of the room.

* * *

Riko was waiting just outside the doors leading to the big room. As she had arrived first, she was still waiting for her teammates to arrive. With her back against the wall, she started thinking about the interrogation she had faced with Naruto this morning while unconsciously rubbing her right arm which had a black dragon's head tattoo that could be seen through the cut in the sleeve higher up. She became so much deep in thought that she jumped when she heard:

"You okay?"

She turned around, her hand going to her double swords on her back out of reflex. She then relaxed when she saw Kakashi standing there with what seemed like a smile through his mask and an orange book in his right hand.

"Naruto can sometime be a pain in the neck since he doesn't always think about what he says or does but you get used to it… eventually," he continued as if he hadn't disturb her.

She didn't really know what to say so she looked down at her. Seeing her reaction, Kakashi put his book away in his pouch and walked up till he was close to her.

"Do you even like it working as a black op?"

Her heart skipped a beat seeing how close he was to her. Uncomfortable, she took a tiny step sideways, away from him, just to be comfortable enough to be able to breath again.

"Does it matter if I like my job or not?"

He arched up an eyebrow, the visible one, both at her reaction and her answer.

"What do you have to hide so badly that you need to avoid our questions?"

She looked up with a hint of surprise. That was one of the last question she had expected from any of her teammates. Seeing how she had always played her game well and how her other (ANBU) teammates don't usually care, she never really had to reveal anything about herself.

Seeing how Riko was not about to answer, Kakashi sighed and finally added:

"We just want to know you better. I guess Naruto does rub off on us on the long run."

"There's nothing interesting about me…" she whispered. Her answer, however, was mostly covered by Naruto's booming voice as he shouted out: "Kakashi-sensei! You're not late!"

The two of them turned around to see Naruto walking side by side with Shikamaru.

"Keep it down, Naruto. We're in a mansion after all," said the black hair boy.

The blonde hair boy scratched the back of his head. "Sorry! I'm just not used to seeing him on time." He then looked at the girl and added, "you know what? I change my mind about what I said during camping a few days ago! You have a good influence on him Riko! You should really hang around us more!"

"Oy, Naruto. Try to fix your own bad habits before starting to criticize your sensei's," Kakashi said with a slightly annoyed voice.

"What do you mean? I have nothing to fix about myself since I'm awesome!"

Seeing as this conversation was going nowhere, Shikamaru cut in by walking to the door and saying:

"Should we get going?"

Everyone nodded and walked toward the room. Once everyone arrived in front of the feudal lord, whom was sitting at the same spot than yesterday, they bowed.

"Please, please! No need for so much formality!" the lord said in a cheery fashion.

"You called us, sir?" finally asked Kakashi.

"Ah yes. I was wondering if it would be possible for me to gain a regular update from your team on your investigations. I would really much like to know about the progress make."

Roki arched an eyebrow as the request grabbed her attention. Why would the lord want to follow their movements? Was there something they were not suppose to stumble on?

"Yes, of course. We were just about to head out," the sensei answered.

"Anywhere in particular you wanted to start with?"

Again, the question struck Roki. She was growing more and more curious by his way of acting.

"Well…" Kakashi began thoughtful. "It would probably be beneficial if we start right away with the troubled sector of your town. If we can go directly to the core of the problem then we will probably be able to resolve it faster."

Lord Takara's expression grew thoughtful as he rested his head on his hands and his eyes drifted to an unknown place. "Yes, of course. It would make sense that you would start there…"

"Pardon me, but is there anything we should be aware of about this section?" asked Shikamaru whom had also caught on to the lord's way of acting.

The lord directed his attention to the group again. "Ah… I'm just worry about your safety. I wouldn't want some of the rebels to attack you. They can be quite… unpredictable, really."

"My lord, aside from you and your wife, whom we saw yesterday, is there any one else we would need to protect? A son or a daughter maybe?" asked Riko.

The feudal lord stared down the girl in a strange fashion which sent chills down her back.

"No. We do not have any children," answered Takara with a very dry voice.

An awkward silence followed. This was the first time that the lord showed this kind of agressivity. Finally, Kakashi broke the silence with a final question.

"How does your ruling system work? Do you have someone helping you with each section of your village?"

The lord's expression became cheery again. "Yes, you understood right. This is quite a village to rule over all by myself. Thus, I have ensured each section to a trusted member of my royal committee!"

"Who rules the south-east sector? Is it possible to find him somewhere?" asked Shikamaru.

With a light laugh, the lord answered: "he's quite a busy man but I'm sure he'll gladly take some time to meet you with any kind of affair related to his sector. In fact, you can easily find him in the house of pleasure which is located near here as he's the owner!"

* * *

**And that is it! Thought it'd be a great way to finish this chapter :)**

**As per usual, share the love - write a review. Reviews = motivation, after all! Also, I like feedback of any kind really. **

**I can't wait to see how you guys like it!**

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	5. Ramen shop

**Hi everyone! So seeing how it actually got easier for me to write this story, I'm thinking of maybe doing weekly updates. Let's hope this works! Exciting, right? ...right?**

**Also, I'd like to thank _lovingurbuks_ for the review on ch. 3. Really appreciated!**

**Thank you also _Hannahneko_ for all of your review up to now! I'm glad to see that people are following my story. It makes me incredibly happy :)**

**Finally, thank you _Sweet Petit_ for your review. I'm glad those were your thoughts on the previous chapter. Naruto really helps me make this story funny on top of the gradual fluffiness that will soon turn into romance.**

**_Disclaimer:_ Still do not own Naruto. Damn it. **

* * *

Naruto's face was priceless that morning. After the lord's revelation about what kind of place the luxurious building was, Naruto had had this expression of shock on his face. Thankfully though, he didn't peep a word until they were out in front of the mansion and out of earshot.

"A pleasure house?! Really?! Like the ones the old pervy sage went to all the time?"

All Shikamaru and Kakashi could do was sigh while Riko gave him a confused look. Seeing her questioning stare, Kakashi answered her silent question.

"The 'pervy sage' he's referring to is the Sannin Jaraya."

"Jaraya? As in one of the legendary three sannins?"

"Yeah," answered Naruto with a frown while crossing his arms. "He's just a pervert who spent his time going to pleasure houses wherever we'd go. Oh, and he's old."

Riko scratched her head as she thought about how disrespectful this kid could be.

"Beside, I don't want to go in a place like that!" continued Naruto.

"You won't," Kakashi replied. "Going there all at once won't be productive. We'll need to split up. Shikamaru will stay in the mansion to keep an eye on the feudal lord and his wife."

He then looked at the one he just mentioned before adding, "try to see if you can get a bit of useful information from them. Maybe like why they don't have any children. A reaction like the one he showed earlier has to have a story behind it."

He then looked at both Naruto and Riko. "You two will split up in the south-east sector. Try to seek what happened to make them so different from the other sectors. We'll meet back at the mansion at dawn."

"Wait. What are you going to do?" asked Naruto.

"Well, I'm going to go see the manager of the section of course. Then, I'll make more research on my own about this section's story."

Riko had expected him to answer this but her stomach clenched. Shouldn't she be happy that she won't have to bother with a place like that?

Naruto turned his back on Kakashi and crossed his arms. "You just want to go have grown up fun in that stupid pleasure house. You're not even going to make any research! You're planning on making us all do the slave working, aren't you?"

He then turned toward his sensei for an answer but never got one. While the boy had been ranting, the team leader had taken that moment to take his leave. So all Naruto found was Riko with her arms crossed, waiting for him to finish, and Shikamaru already walking back to the mansion to do his part of the job while waving a hand in the air.

"HEY!" shouted out Naruto in frustration.

* * *

Thus, there was Riko walking alone in the streets observing her entourage. Wherever she would look, she would see desolation and despair. She wanted to find what made this section so different from all the other but the citizens were very hostile and closed up on themselves. But who could blame them? Who wouldn't be suspicious of a ninja hired by their lord which they currently seemed to hate?

First thing she knew, it was already past noon and her stomach was reclaiming its meal. As she was about to go look for somewhere to eat, she heard in the distance:

"Riiiiiiiko!"

She turned around to see who was crazy enough to just shout her name like that. Of course, she saw Naruto running toward her with a big goofy grin on his face. He quickly grabbed her forearm and pulled her in another direction while declaring:

"I just found the most awesomest place EVER!"

Not sure what to do, she ended up letting herself be dragged to an unknown place. Soon enough, she discovered that following him was beneficial to her. There, in a random street, was a mini ramen restaurant that seemed to look similar to the popular one they have in Konoha. At the sight and thought of food, her stomach growled out with joy.

"Great, isn't it?" asked Naruto proudly.

She simply shook her head.

"Come on! Let's go eat!" he said while walking toward the restaurant followed by Riko. She, however, stopped dead in her tracks when the boy added: "it will be my treat!"

Noticing that she wasn't following him anymore, he turned around.

"Why?" she asked uncomfortable.

"Huh?"

"Why do you want to pay for my lunch?"

Instantly, he had that big goofy grin on his face again.

"Hehehe, well I thought that it would help us become better friends!"

"By paying me lunch?" she asked confused as ever.

"Yeah! Hehe. Iruka-sensei does the same thing for me so I thought you'd like it. Now come on! I don't think my stomach can wait any longer!"

As if on cue, Riko's stomach growled ferociously. Taking the hint, she finally gave in and followed the boy. She wasn't used to having her lunch being paid by others. In fact, she never had her lunch paid by anyone.

They quickly sat down and ordered. While they were waiting, Naruto asked the first question that came into his mind:

"So... I know you don't like me asking you about it but, do you really plan on being an ANBU forever?"

And again they were on the ANBU subject. Riko sighed.

"Why are you so interested in my job?"

"Well, you always seem so lonely and when we first met you, you were really quiet. Also, it's nice to hear you talk more. I hope you'll keep talking to us! You're nice!" he said with a huge smile on his face.

"Oh, uh... thanks?" was Riko's only reply. Again, her lack of socialization skill was showing.

"Besides, I think you should quit the ANBU like Kakashi-sensei did and do cool missions with us! I really think Kakashi-sensei would like that too!"

The girl simply stared at him. Where did this boy get all his ideas?

"I'm sorry to shatter your hopes Naruto but quitting the ANBU isn't really an option for me. Beside, doing so isn't very well seen in the organization."

"Why not?"

"I guess because it's just not honorable, unless of course you have been injured in the line of duty. Then you can quit honorably."

"No! I meant, why isn't it an option for you?"

"Oh, uh. Because that's how I always lived?"

"But you must be busy all the time, no? Don't your parents miss you?"

Without knowing, Naruto had stepped in a very touchy subject. Riko tried to avoid it. She turned to look straight ahead of her, away from Naruto.

"Let it go Naruto."

"What? Why?"

"Because it's not your business, kid."

"But it's not fair for your family if you're always away from them!"

Her hands, which were on the table, were now squeezed into fists. But the boy was too curious and oblivious to even notice anything. In fact, he hadn't notice the sudden appearance of pain in her face.

"Why wouldn't you want to spend time with them? Did you fight or something?"

Finally, Riko slammed one of her fists on the table and turned to look at Naruto.

"No, Naruto! They're dead! Both of them! Now will you let it go?!"

As soon as she had snapped, she had regretted her reaction. She hadn't lost control in so long and this was very strange for her to let her emotions free without trying to hide them. She would keep them inside her simply because she didn't understand them.

However, what she hadn't expected was Naruto's reaction.

"I understand... I don't have parents either. I'm sorry I pushed so far."

Instantly, she calmed down. "I apologize also..."

"Hehe," started Naruto awkwardly while scratching his head, "well I guess I understand you better now."

"Heh. Yeah, I guess you do. Just don't go telling this to everyone, ok? "

"But, what about Kakashi-sensei?"

"Especially not him." She didn't understand why herself but although she usually didn't want to share her story with anyone, she felt the urge of hiding it from that man.

As Naruto was going to ask why, the clerk finally brought the two bowls of ramen that they had ordered. Taking this opportunity, Riko decided to change the subject to something less awkward.

"So found any background information on this sector yet? If you can make me talk, I'm sure you got others to talk."

Instantly, Naruto became gloomy.

"No… No one wants to say anything. Kakashi-sensei will be disappointed," he answered pouting.

She almost choked on her ramen as she bursted out into a fit of laughter. Now it was Naruto's turn to be confused both by her reaction and by seeing her… well, laugh. It was just not a normal sight.

"What's so funny?" asked Naruto still pouting.

"So, first you complain that Kakashi is giving us all the dirty work then you're upset that you can't find anything and will disappoint him? You need to make up your mind, kid." She was starting to calm down, wiping away the tears from her eyes.

Seeing her laugh like this instead of her emotionless expression made Naruto crack a smile.

"See? I knew you could do better. Now you actually look human and not like a zombie! I never got that far with Sai… yet."

"Who's Sai?"

"Oh! He's an ANBU member like you! You might know him. He's pretty emotionless, like you were."

"What ability did he have?"

"Huh?"

"Well, since we all wear masks, we rarely get to see each other's face. So kind of identify everyone by their ability."

"Oh, well he draws a lot and he can make them come to life."

Thinking back through her several missions, she could vaguely remember seeing someone use a technique like that.

"Excuse me…" a voice interrupted her thinking.

The two ninjas looked up to see the clerk still standing in front of them.

"I overheard you saying that you wanted to learn about his place?" he continued.

"Yeah," answered Naruto, " but no one really wants to tell us about it".

"Are you here to kill us?" the clerk asked awkwardly.

"No no!" Naruto waved his hands in front of him. "We actually want to make things right! We want to help bring peace!"

Riko looked at the boy. His answer made her realize that he had a different point of view on this mission. Instead of doing his mission as told and simply stop any kind of uproar, he wanted to do more. He wanted to help this sector.

The clerk smiled. "Well, boy, then I'm willing to tell you our story or at least, what I know of it."

* * *

**That's all for this chapter!**

**So I may or may not have the next chapter almost done... but I really want to first see the feedback on this chapter!**

**Remember people! Share the love, write a review!**

**Thank you all for reading this far, I'm working really hard on not letting you guys down!**

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	6. What happened?

**Hi everyone! Doing good so far with the weekly updates!**

**Thanks _hannahneko_ again for your review. I know the story seems a bit slow but it will start soon!**

**Also, thank you _gunslayer12_ for your constructive review. It was a pleasure to read it. For Riko's past, it will be all revealed in the next chapter (stay tuned for next week!). As for Naruto, I'm glad you have mentioned about how annoying he is and you guessed right, it was for a purpose as I need a reason for Riko to snap and come out of her little bubble. Now that we have reached that point, he will go back to being a normal level of annoying. Thanks again for your review!**

**Onward to the story!**

_**Disclaimer:**_** I don't own Naruto. If I did, there would be more updates :)**

* * *

Kakashi had had, what it seems to him, a good day. Turns out the manager couldn't meet up with him but left him a compensation. Sitting there, reading his book, and thinking back to today's event, he blushed. Thank god for his mask.

Naruto and Riko walked in the little private kitchen where the team was meeting that evening. There, they found Shikamaru slouching back in his chair half asleep and Kakashi who seemed oddly relaxed, sitting in his chair and reading his book. No one really bothered to look up or, in fact, seemed to be aware of their presence when they walked in, which made Naruto a bit upset.

"Hey! Were we the only one working our asses off?!" he shouted out.

Shikamaru sat up in his chair, now aware of the two new arrivals.

"Gee, Naruto. Keep it down will ya?"

"Did you two at least find anything?!" kept shouting Naruto while pointing at the black hair boy. Meanwhile, Riko went to sit down, looking exhausted.

"You're such a drag. Yes, I found a bit of information but not from the lord or his wife. Turns out the servants are really chatty."

"Oh?" Naruto calmed down and was now interested in what his friend had to say.

"Yeah. Turns out the reason the lord and his wife don't have any children of their own which is simply due to the fact that the wife can't have any kids."

"Explains why he was so rough with Riko…" mumbled Naruto while looking at the girl.

She looked at him and shrugged off the memory.

"Why not tell them what we found?" said the girl with what she hoped to be an encouraging smile.

Kakashi finally looked up from his book, staring at the girl curiously. Something was different about her. She didn't seem as closed up on herself as before. Had Naruto performed his magic again?

"Well, it's really a funny story. Riko and I couldn't find any information. People were really silent and kept glaring at us. But then we had lunch at this super awesome ramen place I found. The clerk there was really cold at first but then for some reason he said that he'd share what he knew. So we didn't find much but…" started the blonde boy.

"Spit it out already," said Shikamaru.

"Humph. Ok. Turns out the feudal lord is the evil one and gave the management to someone even more horrible!" Naruto crossed his arms with a smile, satisfied with what he said.

Riko hide her face in her right hand. "That's not the whole story, kid."

"Well you tell it then!" he dared her.

She sighed. "Fine," she sat up in her chair, remembering what the clerk had told them in a hush tone. "We were told that the south-east sector of the village used to be as prosperous as the rest of the town. They all loved lord Takara as he always found someone fair and noble to help him manage each section. If there was ever any problem or complaints, the lord would not hesitate to intervene. This village was known for its governing system because of how well the economy rolled. However, about 20 years ago, the feudal lord did something unexpected."

As she was about to continue, she was interrupted by the servants coming in with different kind of plates filled with food.

"Woah!" shouted out Naruto in surprised.

While the servants were setting things down, Kakashi explained to the two new arrivals, "we took the liberty of asking them for supper since we were expecting you soon. Hope you like it."

"You bet!" said the blonde boy. He took a pair of chopstick and said while splitting them: "Itadakimasu!"

Everyone digged in while the servants left. Once they were all gone, Riko continued.

"So about 20 years ago, the feudal lord came out of the blue and replaced the manager of the south-east sector, which was really appreciated by the inhabitants, with no valid reason. When he was openly asked about this sudden decision, he would only tell his people that it was for their best. However, this new manager, the owner of the pleasure house, abused his authority and claimed as much money as he could from his sector. The people complained to lord Takara but he would only turn a blind eye. That is when all the hatred started."

"Wow…" was the only response Shikamaru managed to give while everyone else had stopped eating and remained speechless. "Well that explains why the servants were saying that all the staff was fired and replaced."

"Huh?" said Naruto confused.

"Yeah, apparently, around the time it all happened, lord Takara requested to have all his staff fired, beginning with the ones that lived in the south-east sector. Then, he hired new people to replace the old ones. That means that now we need to know more about this man who owns the pleasure house. There's definitely something that happened but what?"

Everyone turned to look at Kakashi.

"Now that I think about it, how did the meeting with that man go?" asked Naruto who started eating again.

"Well to begin, his name is Ren. He was about to receive me but unfortunately a last minute situation came up and wasn't able to meet me today. Thus, he told me to come see him tomorrow and that he would have time to meet up with me."

"Well shoot. We're forced to wait now…" commented Shikamaru.

"Wait, wait, wait!" interrupted Naruto. "Sensei, what did you do today then?"

Riko looked at the man curiously. Naruto had spoken out loud what she was thinking quietly.

"I continued my research like the two of you," said Kakashi now facing his plate.

It was only then that Riko noticed that although he had put food in his plate, he hadn't eaten any of it. No seeing what's under the mask again! But that was becoming the last of her concern as Naruto's interrogation continued.

"Then why didn't we see you?" continued Naruto. Riko looked at him again quietly. Where was Naruto trying to go with this?

"Because I didn't make my research in the sector."

"Then where were you?"

"Naruto, what do you want to know," asked Kakashi with a sigh. Seemed like he was tired of the interrogation too.

"While Riko and I were doing all the dirty work, you spent the day at the pleasure house, didn't you? You're acting exactly the same way the pervy sage would after having his 'fun' at a pleasure house!" continued to shout out the blonde boy while quoting with his fingers the word 'fun'.

Riko looked down at her plate. She now had lost her appetite. What Naruto just said made an uneasy feeling grow inside her.

Shikamaru sighed. "Naruto give it a break. You're being loud and annoying."

"You might not care but I do!" he then looked at his sensei again. "You did didn't you?"

"How will knowing this help with our mission?" asked Kakashi, obviously avoiding admitting his wrongs.

His answer was the straw that breaks the camel. She slammed her hands on the table, loudly backed up her chair and stormed out of the room, leaving three very dumbfounded teammates staring at the door through which she left. The last thing she heard was Naruto's loud voice shouting accusingly:

"See? Even Riko cares!"

On her way to her room, she raised one of her hands on her head. What was wrong with her? Not only did she lose it, but this was the second time today! She never acted like this. Never. At least, not since she joined the ANBU.

A short time later, she was in her room. Sliding the door shut, she wished that it was a regular door which she could lock. Then, standing in the middle of her room, she wasn't sure what to do. She stood there several minutes looking around her and outside. Finally, she eyed her bed and decided that she was probably sick and needed to sleep. Thus, she took off all her equipment, carefully leaving her swords near her bed, and lifted her shirt off to leave only her blank tank top on. Before laying down, she looked at her reflection in a mirror on a wall near her bed. With only her tank top on, she could clearly see her ANBU tattoo on her left arm and her dragon tattoo on her other arm. The second tattoo started on her arm, just below her shoulder, with a long neck and body that stretched up and around her shoulder to finish on her back, under her shirt. She caressed lovingly its head and smiled weakly. As she turned to lie down, a light knock could be heard on her door.

"Riko?"

It was Kakashi. After the girl had stormed off, the man had started feeling guilty for what he did today. Not because the girl and Naruto had to look alone for information but for another reason that was unknown to him. Whatever that reason was, it made him feel like he acted stupidly.

"Can I come in?" he asked still waiting for an answer.

But she never gave him an answer.

An awkward silence followed. Very slowly, she slipped into her bed without making any sounds as if afraid that Kakashi could hear her.

"I'm sorry..." whispered the man before leaving.

Lying down on her back, Riko finally found how to name that nagging emotion she had been feeling since she left the kitchen. This emotion was hurt.

On the other side of the door that connected to Kakashi's room, she could see the shadow of the man moving around slowly. Knowing that he was just there, on the other side, made her feel even more uneasy. She tried closing her eyes to make the pain go away, trying to resonate herself. She then heard the team leader let himself fall hardly on his bed. Somehow, he seemed discourage and he was. Still trying to understand why, Kakashi felt like he had messed up big time at the pleasure house today.

Outside, a storm could be heard coming from far away...

* * *

**More suspense! So yeah... So I realize this was a slow chapter but it was to set the next one. The next chapter will be much much more interesting, even I can't wait to post it! Hahahaha**

**As per usual: share the love, write a review. Reviews and favs are great motivators!**


	7. Nightmares of the past

**Hey guys, so this is the chapter which I was so excited to make you all read. Now that I'm posting it, I feel kinda nervous about how you will all feel about it. Author's jitters? Haha... I'm doing my updates this week a day early since tomorrow I'm going to be swamped with a final exam and I know I won't have the time to post it. So, enjoy the early update!**

**Thank you again to _Hannahneko_ and _gunslayer12_ for your continuous reviews. I love reading your opinion on this story. Also, I get your point of view on the whole apologizing thing on the previous chapter_ gunslayer12, _and I'm honestly glad that you mentioned it. I believe it will actually work at my advantage for the chapter following this one!**

**Anyways, this chapter should shed some light on Riko's past and more. I hope you enjoy it! **

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own Naruto. Too good of a manga to be written, even less drawn, by me ;)**

* * *

_Six years old Riko was standing in the middle of a crowd. Her clan had gathered at her grandfather's request. Holding her mom's hand, the young girl looked around to see where her dad was but with all these adults around, it was impossible to spot him. _

_The crowd grew quiet as Riko's grandfather appeared in the middle. Once everyone was quiet, the old man began. _

_"Thank you all for meeting me here on such a short notice. I have reunited all of you here to speak of a very important matter. As you all know, I am growing old and the time of my reign over this clan is coming to an end. Soon, I will need to name my successor."_

_Roughly half of the crowd started applauding and whispering the name 'Ayumu', Riko's dad. However, the old man began to speak again. _

_"However, it is to my regret that I declare that my son, Ayumu Ryuu, will not be named as my successor. In fact, as long as I live, I will make sure that my son will not rule this clan due to his idealistic ways of thinking."_

_Harsh whispering started again in the crowd. Young Riko looked up at her mother and asked: "Mommy, what does it mean?"_

_Her only response was to look down sadly at her child. Suddenly, yelling shot up from the crowd and the clan started becoming quite aggressive. Some agreed with the old man's decision, others did not. _

_The crowd started to move and push around, leading to Riko's separation from her mother. The crowd started to swirl around her as she called out for her mother. _

_Suddenly, Riko was standing in a doorway, listening to her father speaking to some men. They whispered harshly, asking for justice and revenge as Ayumu tried to calm them down. They talked about how unfair the old man's ways were. They asked to rebel. They even talked about protecting Ayumu as his life could be in danger. With a slight smile, the man told them how touched he was by their concerned but refused any kind of protection. _

_A hand touched lightly the young girl's shoulder. Looking up, she saw her mother bending over her protectively. Quietly, she told Riko:_

_"Why don't we go make supper for these nice gentlemen?"_

_The girl nodded quickly and they both walked toward the kitchen. While bringing some food for her mother to cut, Riko asked:_

_"Mommy, why does grandfather hate us? Did we do something wrong?"_

_The mother kneeled down in front of her and while brushing away her daughter's hair from her face, she answered sadly:_

_"No dear. Your grandfather simply does not agree with your father's dream. We did nothing wrong."_

_"But daddy wants to allow our clan to befriend with the rest of Konoha. Is it that bad to be friends with them?"_

_"No dear. In fact, it seems like a wonderful idea."_

_Everything swirled around Riko, as if caught in a tornado. _

_"Mommy?!" cried out the girl again. _

_When her surrounding settled down, the girl was sitting in her bed in the dark. First thing she knew an explosion was heard down stairs. Running out in the hallway, Riko noticed several masked men running in the house with weapons such as explosive tags, kunais, and shurikens. As she was about to scream out, someone grabbed her from behind and holding her in his arm, they escaped through a window at the back of the house. _

_"Everything will be fine honey," said the man whom she recognised as her father. In front of them, she could see her mother also running ahead. _

_"Where are we going?"_

_Before her father could answer her, they both dropped roughly on the ground. _

_"Ayumu!" screamed in terror Riko's mother. She ran back quickly to her husband. _

_"You need to go on without me Sayuri. Take Riko with you!" urged Ayumu._

_"NO! We're not leaving you! You...you can't leave us! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME!..." started Riko in tears. _

_Coughing up blood, her father tried to smile. _

_"It's okay dear," he said reassuringly. "I'll always be with you."_

_He whipped with his left thumb the blood coming out of his mouth, raised his right sleeve and brushed the blood on the head of dragon tattoo that was hidden there. Making a quick hand sign, he made the tattoo come alive. It first swirled around the young girl then, sneaking under her shirt, it transformed back into a tattoo on her skin, taking the exact position it once had on his old owner. The girl could feel a slight burn where the whole tattoo took place. _

_"He is now linked to you Riko. He will be your closest friend and your guardian. This is my way of staying with you."_

_Shortly after Ayumu said this, voices started to be heard behind them. _

_"Daddy..." said Riko. _

_But she was swiftly grabbed by her mother who began running again. _

_The environment began shifting again. Before everything became blurry, Riko saw her dad fall asleep peacefully on the ground._

_"DADDY!"_

_When the surrounding calmed down, they were almost at the Hokage's building. However, a man jumped in front of Sayuri who was still holding Riko protectively. The man did a hand sign and backed up. Almost instantly, the mother threw her daughter on the ground. Something was wrong. _

_Sitting up, Riko looked up in fear. "Mommy, what's wrong?"_

_But the woman did not hear her question. In fact, she did not see her poor terrified daughter on the ground. What she saw was a masked man holding a giant shuriken in one hand. Without realizing it, Sayuri had been caught in a genjutsu. The mother jumped on whom she thought was the enemy, wrapped her hands around his neck and yelled out in rage:_

_"YOU KILLED HIM! YOU KILLED AYUMU! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"_

_Under her, barely breathing, Riko wrapped her small hands around her mother's arms. _

_"...mommy...stop..." she barely managed to say. _

* * *

A storm was violently raging outside. It was really hard to sleep with the terrible noise it made, especially for Kakashi. Every time he saw a flash of lightning, almost instantly he would hear a very loud booming sound. He knew the storm was right above them and couldn't wait till it would make its way past the village.

_FLASH. BOOM._

The man finally gave up on sleeping until the storm was gone. Sitting up in his bed, he watched the outside scenery through the window. While doing so, his thoughts drifted off to yesterday. As much as he had a good time at the pleasure house, as much as he hated himself now. Thinking again about it made him angry with himself.

His thoughts were soon interrupted by a noise that caught his attention. Listening carefully, he finally heard it:

"No... don't kill me..."

_FLASH. BOOM._

_"It's me...please..."_

Kakashi got up and walked around his room. The noise led him to the door leading to Riko's room. Unsure what to do, mostly because of last evening's events, Kakashi opted for knocking. He waited, waiting for an answer but only heard:

"I didn't kill him...help...!"

Worried, Kakashi opened the door. The room was dark and he wasn't sure where she was.

_FLASH. BOOM._

During the last flash of lightning, the man managed to locate the girl in her bed. Walking up slowly, he called out her name softly. Still not getting any answers, he kneed down by her side.

"Help...someone..."

_FLASH. BOOM._

During that brief moment, he managed to see her clearly. She was sweating heavily and trashing. Whatever her nightmare was, it seemed to be pretty nasty. Kakashi suddenly felt the urge to help her. Softly, he grabbed her shoulder and tried to wake her up.

* * *

_Young Riko's vision was starting to darken. She was suffocating and there was nothing she could do. Behind her, she could hear the man who casted the genjutsu laugh loudly. _

_Through his laugh, Riko heard another voice that she did not recognize:_

"Riko. You need to wake up."

_The other man's laugh suddenly stopped. _

_"Enough!" another man's voice was heard. _

_Sayuri was suddenly pulled away by a man with golden hair and wearing a white and red cape. With a hand sign, he broke the genjutsu and laid the unconscious woman on the ground. He then came to the young girl who was breathing heavily. _

"Riko. You're having a nightmare. Wake up." Again the unknown voice could be heard.

_"I'm sorry I couldn't come to help you before. Are you okay kid?" the man softly asked. _

_The girl shook her head and started crying more than ever. Without Riko noticing, her surrounding shifted again. Next thing she knew, she was in a small apartment prepared by the Hokage himself. Walking around in the dark, the young girl started looking and calling for her mother. She started feeling suffocated, knowing that something was wrong. Breathing heavily, she started to shake in fear._

"Riko. It's me, Kakashi. Wake up," the unknown voice said from nowhere.

_Turning the corner leading to her mother's room, Riko noticed that the door was just slightly open. She first knocked on it, waiting for the permission to come in. _

"_Mommy? I'm scared…" said the girl when her mother didn't answer._

_Still not getting an answer, Riko pushed the door open. There, on the ground, she saw her mother lying in a puddle of blood with a kunai in her stomach. Running to her, she dropped to ground and started shaking the woman._

"_Mommy! Mommy! Wake up! You need to wake up!" she yelled out, crying more than ever. "You...you can't leave me alone! Mommy, I'm scared!"_

"Riko! It's all a nightmare! Whatever you are seeing is just a dream!" said the unknown voice in panic.

_A nightmare? If only this had been a nightmare…_

* * *

Kakashi had started panicking. Riko had started breathing heavily, shaking and crying all while still thrashing around. He was worried that she would eventually hurt herself or worse, have a heart attack.

"Riko! It's all a nightmare! Whatever you are seeing is just a dream!" he almost yelled out while shaking her more firmly.

With a loud gasp, the girl finally woke up. She sat up and was breathing heavily while looking in front of her with her eyes wide open. She then hid her face and started crying.

"Riko… it's okay now. You're safe here," softly said Kakashi, trying to reassure her while brushing her shoulder.

_FLASH. BOOM._

The sudden thunder scared the girl and her first reaction was to jump toward the man for protection. Surprised by her sudden reaction, he wrapped his arms around her protectively.

"They're all dead and I couldn't do anything," she sobbed.

"It's okay. Everything will be okay…" he continued to whisper.

She tightened her grip around him. "Please don't leave me. I'm scared…"

"I won't," Kakashi promised.

Sitting there, holding her, the man started thinking about how this was a side of her that he had never seen. She seemed actually vulnerable compared to her usual quiet and emotionless self. This may be in fact the real her which she was trying so desperately to hide from everyone. At that moment, he promised to himself that he would help her come out of her shell. He wanted to help her face her fears.

Right there and then, he realized that he did not only feel curious about her. In fact, he may actually care more about her than he ever thought.

* * *

**This is it for this chapter! I hope it was as good as I made it seem!**

**As per usual: share the love, write a review! (Maybe I should find another catch phrase hahaha)**

**Thank you for reading this far!**


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